Halep vs Stephens 09/06/2018

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Simona Halep vs Sloane Stephens Tennis Prediction

Simona Halep has knocked down third seed and former champion Garbine Muguruza in a high-intensity semifinal, which lasted little more than 90 minutes (6-1 6-4), to book her third French Open final and retain her position at the top of the WTA standings.
Halep endured her fair share of testing moments in this fortnight, as she had to stage comeback wins from a set deficit against Alison Riske in the first round (went 0-5 in the first set) and Angelique Kerber in the quarterfinals (went 0-4 in the first set).
The win over Muguruza was Halep’s 34th of 2018, the most on tour (ahead of Kvitova’s 32). She is heading into this final with a 3-3 record against top 10 players in 2018, a 7-4 record against Americans at slams and having lost six of her last seven finals.
All of Halep’s previous slam finals have gone to deciders. She led Ostapenko 6-4 3-0 in last year’s final and led Wozniacki by a break in 2018 Australian Open. She is entering the final having played for nine hours this fortnight, 78 minutes more than Stephens.
Only three women in Open Era history have gone on to win a major after losing at least their first three slam finals, Kim Clijsters (2005 US Open), Jana Novotna (1998 Wimbledon) and Chris Evert (1974 French Open).
Halep, bidding to be the first Romanian to win a slam since Virginia Ruzici’s triumph at Paris in 1978, has won six clay-court titles in her career, the last of which came at 2017 Madrid Open. Only five WTA players have more tour-level titles on the dirt.
Sloane Stephens is into her second slam final after defeating Madison Keys in French Open’s first all-American semifinal since 2002. In a rematch of the 2017 US Open final, the tenth seed once again dismissed Keys in straight sets, winning 6-4 6-4 in 77 minutes.
Stephens’ previous best results at Paris were fourth-round finishes during 2012-15. She is now into her first tour-level final in Europe and seeking her first red-clay title, having lifted a title on the green clay courts of Charleston in 2016 (d. Vesnina).
Stephens was two points away from a third round exit as Camila Giorgi served for the match twice. She eventually won 4-6 6-1 8-6 in two and a half hours and had enjoyed a smooth ride in all other rounds, including comfortable wins over #14 Kasatkina and #24 Kontaveit.
The American has gone 6-0 in career finals. This includes a title at Miami this year when she defeated four slam champions in a row (Muguruza, Kerber, Azarenka, and Ostapenko). On the flip side, she is 0-6 against World #1s, including four losses to S. Williams.
This is the second time an American and a Romanian are meeting in a Grand Slam singles final since Chris Evert’s win over Virginia Ruzici in 1980 French Open.
Halep leads the series against Stephens by 5-2. The world #1 has won the last four meetings, including en route to the 2014 French Open final. The pair, whose last meetings came in 2017 (Washington D.C. and Cincinnati), have ended all their encounters in straight sets.